Hoping your holidays were grand and that all were good and wished for
sunspots and better DX for the New Year and will receive them SOON! Santa's been
busy, so be patient. Thanks to one and all for your business during 2015!! I'll
need it again in 2016!

Below are specials for January 2016, you can start using them now.

If you need a current stamp list or supply list, I can
mailor poorly email it to you.

NEWS: My XP computer of 7 YRS crashed early Dec. I now
have a Windows 10 Lenovo. Not pleased with Windows 10, I think it's designed for
the selfie generation with 1000's of apps geared for mostly worthless stuff...I
sure miss the MS Works program for creating my price lists and similar things
like the postage grids below...I don't know how they survived the change over!!
but glad they did. Nothing on computer now to make something like them, except
WordPad... Lucky that I had stamp and supply lists saved in Rich Text formats
for some customers who couldn't open my converted Word doc. I was able to clean
them up a bit...but they still look lousy. Anything I had converted to a Word
doc. is garbled and that was most of the stuff transferred from old PC. And I
will NOT pay $150 for MS Office, that's for sure. BUT, luckily my email program
is as it was. My tnx to Punit in Bombay who reinstalled it in under 5 minutes!!
It's a much quieter machine and I DO like the new flat, wide screen
monitor...now I got more room on my desk for other junk!! HI!

MORE NEWS: Priority Mail rates increase January 20th. We
will absorb this increase and our shipping charges WILL NOT
increase.

IDEA: BUY some discount postage and take
advantage of that January special listed below!! CHECK OUT the
Mega Euro. Airmail Envelope Deals!!!

NEW RATES:

Germany increases on Jan. 1st to 0,90 euro up from 0,80 euro. Units have
been updated and 0,10 makeups available soon at 20c. This new 0,90 rate will be
valid for 3 years!

Belgium also increases, but since I'm supplying their "forever" stamp, no
need to be concerned about it.

Estonia increases on Jan. 1st to 1,50 euro for 250g!! letter, up from 1,30
euro for 50g letter. 0,20 makeup available at 30c.

Canada increases mid January to $1.25 for 30g letter, up from $1.20. Units
updated end of Dec. 5c makeups available.

Norway increases Jan. 1st to 18 kr, up from 16kr. Since we supply
their world forever stamp, no problem here.

Denmark increases Jan. 1st to 30 kr!!!, up from 16,50kr. Will now offer
their economy "B" rate of 19kr for the current price of $3.00. Their "A" rate of
30kr is

offered at $5.00...the "B" rate still travels by air and might arrive
a few days later than an "A" post mailing, so go with the "B" rate.

Monday, December 28, 2015

Product: Weekly Highlights and Forecasts
:Issued: 2015 Dec 28 0317 UTC
# Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center
# Product description and SWPC web contact http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/weekly.html#
# Weekly Highlights and Forecasts
#
Highlights of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 21 - 27 December 2015
Solar activity ranged from low to moderate levels (R1-Minor) with low activity observed on 25, 26, and 27 Dec, and moderate activity observed on 21, 22, 23, and 24 Dec. The majority of the flare
activity occurred from Regions 2472 and 2473. Region 2472 (N04, L=331, class/area Dai/170 on 23 Dec) produced an M2/Sf at 21/0103 UTC and an M1/1n at 21/1014 UTC before decaying. Region 2473 (S22, L-331, class/area Fkc/590 on 26 Dec), the largest region on the disk, produced an M1/Sf at 22/0341 UTC, an M4/1f at 23/0040 UTC, and an M1 at 24/0212 UTC. Multiple eruptions were observed in coronagraph imagery, but all were directed off the east limb and none were geoeffective.
No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit.
The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit was at normal to high levels through the entire week 21 December - 27 December.
Geomagnetic field activity reached G1 (Minor) to G2 (Moderate) storm levels early on 21 Dec due to effects from a CME that erupted on 16 Dec. G2 storm condtions were observed from 21/0000-0600 UTC, with G1 storm conditions occurring in the 21/0600-0900 UTC synoptic period. Solar wind parameters at the ACE spacecraft were enhanced with Bt reaching as high as 18 nT and prolonged periods of southward magnetic field (-Bz). An isolated period of active conditions was observed early on 22 Dec due to lingering CME effects. Active conditions occurred late on 23 Dec due to weak substorming. Quiet to unsettled conditions were observed on 24, 25, and 27 Dec. The geomagnetic field reached G1 (Minor) storm conditions late on 26 Dec (26/2100-2359 UTC) due to a negative polarity coronal hole high speed stream (CH HSS).
Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 28 December - 23 January 2016
Solar activity is expected to be at low to moderate levels (R1-Minor) throughout the period. Moderate activity is likely through 03 Jan as Regions 2472 (N04, L=329) and 2473 (S22, L=332) rotate off the disk. Low activity levels are expected on 04-23 Jan with moderate activity possible on 15-23 Jan as Regions 2472 and 2473 rotate back onto the visible side of the disk.
No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit.
The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at moderate to high levels on 28 Dec - 12 Jan in response to coronal hole high speed stream (CH HSS) effects. Normal
to moderate levels are expected on 13-23 Jan.
Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be at active levels on 01, 03 Jan with G1 (Minor) storm conditions on 02 Jan due to a positive polarity CH HSS. G1 storm conditions are likely again on 06 Jan with active levels following on 07 Jan due to a positve polarity CH HSS. 10 and 11 Jan are likely to see G1 storm and active conditions, respectively due to a negative polarity CH HSS. Generally quiet to
unsettled conditions are expected from 13-23 Jan.

Saturday, December 26, 2015

The broadcast to the Nation “Mann Ki Baat” by Shri.
Narendra Modi, Hon'ble Prime Minister of India will be broadcast Sunday
27 Dec 2015 at 0530-0600 UTC (1100-1130 am IST). It is the 15th edition of the
program.

All stations of AIR will relay this program on
MW/SW/FM

Look out on the following additional frequencies also
(which were heard last time)

9870 Bengaluru

9940 Delhi

11850
Delhi?

17715
Delhi

(The above frequencies are off at this time
normally)

The broadcast can be heard at the same time in the
following website (and others)

HOLLAND Schedule of Free Radio Service Holland, Dec.27
0852-1200 on 7700 unknown transmitter to Eupore English
0852-1200 on 9300 unknown transmitter to Eupore English
1252-1600 on 7700 unknown transmitter to Eupore English
1252-1600 on 9300 unknown transmitter to Eupore English

ITALY The next test broadcasts of Marconi Radio International will be:
0900-1300 on 11389.7 ???.03 kW / non-dir to WeEu En/Sp/It on December 27

** To the Americas, but Asia-Pacific and European
reception is possible
***To the Americas, but European reception is possible

The Mighty KBC will transmit a minute of MFSK32 Sunday at
0158 UTC (Saturday 8:58 pm EST) on 7395 kHz, via Germany. The Radio Radio
Romania International interval signal, ahead of its French broadcast at 0200
UTC, will be co-channel. Reports for this KBC reception to Eric:
themightykbc@gmail.com .

Thanks for your reception reports last weekend. I will be answering reports
this weekend. Enjoy the holidays!

The
encyclopedias inform us that the largest coral island in the world is Christmas
Island; that is, the Christmas Island that is located in the Central
Pacific. This particular Christmas
Island is the largest island in the scattered nation of Kiribati and it lies
1200 miles directly south of Hawaii.

The name for their national entity
in their national Gilbertise language is spelled as Kiribati

K
I R I B A T I, where the T & the I at the end of the word is pronounced as
the standard letter S in English.
Likewise, Christmas is spelled K I R I T I M A T I, but it is pronounced
as KIRISMAS, which is very close to the standard English pronunciation
Christmas.

This very large coral island has a
total circumference of 100 miles, and on the map its shape is that of a
convoluted square with a handle. It is a
low scrubby island and it is located 2,000 miles east from the capital city of
their nation, Tarawa. The entire nation
of Kiribati is made up of 34 islands, atolls and reefs widely spread along
the equator.

In the era before European
exploration, this Christmas Island was uninhabited, though it was

visited
occasionally by wandering seafarers in their early primitive seacraft. The first European explorer to sight this
island was the Spanish captain Hernando de Grijalva in 1537. In 1777, the famous English explorer Captain
James Cook visited the island on Christmas Eve, December 24, hence the name
Christmas Island.

During the era when the United
Kingdom administered the island as part of the Gilbert & Ellice islands,
both England and the United States claimed this territory. However, when England granted
independence to Christmas Island on July
12, 1979, the American claim also lapsed.

The first settlement on Christmas
Island was established in 1882, with a few fishermen and plantation workers,
though 23 years later, the island was abandoned when a drought killed off most
of the coconut trees. Seven years later,
a second attempt at colonization took place when a group of settlers was
brought in from other colonial islands.

During World War 2, American and
Australian forces occupied the island, and the Americans built up an
infrastructure made up of accommodations, an airport with a long runway,
dockage for shipping, a weather reporting station and recreational facilities.

In
1957, the British began a series of nuclear tests in the area under the
technical eponym Operation Grapple; and five years later, the Americans
conducted a series of 36 similar nuclear tests, under their working
designation, Operation Dominic.

These days, the island contains a
total population of local residents numbering a little more than 5500 and they utilize twin currencies, the Kiribati
dollar and the Australian dollar. The International Date Line actually
splits the scattered islands into two different calendar days. However, Christmas Island has adopted a
strange time zone, UTC + 14 hours, and this provides them with the same working
day as all the other islands in their scattered nation.

General Douglas MacArthur was
evacuated from the Philippines to Australia in March 1942 and quite quickly he
ordered the development of an army radio communication network across the
Pacific. A radio communication station was
installed on this Christmas Island and it was taken into service in July 1942
under the callsign WVHW. This event
occurred soon after the Americans began to swarm onto the island for the
Pacific War.

Two years later, in June 1944, the
first entertainment radio station on Christmas Island was inaugurated under the
callsign WVUU with 75 watts on 1480 kHz
The callsign WVUU was previously in use a quarter century earlier for a
communication transmitter on board the seafaring vessel “Kanakee”. This AFRS, the American Forces Radio Service,
entertainment station was installed by the American Air Force and it was heard
occasionally in New Zealand and Australia.

According to Theodore DeLay in his
memorable volume on the history of AFRS radio, station WVUU was closed on
February 1 of the following year, 1945.
However, the station was still listed in radio magazines in Australian
and New Zealand for two years more, and it was shown as a member station of the
AFRS Pacific Ocean Network.

The next radio broadcasting station
on Christmas Island was installed by the British during their nuclear tests in
the area which ran from 1957 to 1964.
Volunteer members of the Royal Air Force installed a small mediumwave
station on the island and we would presume that it was located within the
buildings associated with the Cassidy Air Field near the main settlement areas
on the western edge of the island.

This British radio broadcasting
station was on the air with 50 watts on 1450 kHz and it was listed in the WRTVHB in the early 1960s
simply as BFBS, the British Forces Broadcasting Service. This station was on the air with local
programming, and it also carried relay programming from the BBC London, and
also from BFBS in London.

The schedule of service from BFBS
Christmas Island showed five hours daily, with twelve hours on Saturday and
Sunday. The station was closed in 1964
when the British forces departed after the conclusion of their series of
nuclear tests.

Probably the most exotic of all of the radio
services on Christmas Island was the rebroadcast on mediumwave of a shortwave
relay from Radio Kiribati on Betio Island, part of the national capital city
atoll Tarawa some 2000 miles distant. This relay service was first noted
in 1980 and it was in use for a couple of years until a transmitter malfunction
rendered the Christmas Island station inoperable.

This
shortwave service was transmitted from Tarawa-Betio with a 1 kW communication
transmitter on any of three different frequencies: 9825 kHz, 14802 kHz, or
16433 kHz. It was in use for only two
full years at the most, though it was shown as an entry in the WRTVHB for half
a dozen more years.

We would presume that the mediumwave
transmitter on Christmas Island, a 1 kW unit on 1115 kHz, was co-installed with
the Telecom facility near the settlement of London, on the western coast of
Christmas Island. Apparently a projected
move to 845 kHz was never implemented.

The fourth radio broadcasting
station on Christmas Island was constructed and installed by Australian personnel
in late 1998. Preliminary plans called
for the station to be located quite close to the Telecom facility, but due to fears of mutual interference
between the electronics in the two facilities, it was actually installed at
another location, though still near to London.

This new station was claimed by its
founders as the first on the island. It
was the first privately operated station, though in actual reality, it was their fourth radio broadcasting
station. It operated with 500 watts on
93.5 FM and it was on the air for six program hours daily.

But unfortunately due to lack of
funding, the station fell into disuse and it was taken over by the island
government at the end of the following year, 1999. Eight years later again, the station was
re-opened under the national government, with a program feed from the distant
national capital at Tarawa via satellite.
It is still on the air to this
day, with 500 watts on 93.5 FM.

Monday, December 21, 2015

On Dec 24, 2015 Media Broadcast will transmit a four hour long program on behalf of
NDR (Norddeutsche Rundfunk) in Hamburg. The transmission is intended for sailors
and Marine personnel on the high seas, who cannot celebrate Christmas with their
family and relatives. Transmission times will be 19.00-21.00 hours
UTC.

Special Christmas programs for our blog readers. Complete multilingual by-hour schedules are available in the new winter edition of International Shortwave Broadcast Guide. Station broadcasters from non-English speaking countries that offer English services, offer special seasonal programming. This a sampling of programming for listener's around the globe.

Radio Australia
Christmas downunder, means that Christmas and New Years will commence at the beginning of summer. Most of the country takes their holidays at this time, but look for features from programs that originate from Radio Australia or in co-productions with ABC News Radio.

BBC World Service
A favorite for Christmas programs, is the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, which traditionally air domestically on BBC's Radio 4 live at 1500 UTC on December 24, and repeats on Christmas Day at 1400 UTC on Radio 3. The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols also airs on the BBC World Service on or around Christmas Day, and on-demand following the Christmas Eve broadcast. This special favorite, is broadcast live from the candlelight service at King's College in Cambridge on Christmas Eve, and marks the beginning of Christmas. Scriptures and music from the chapel choir, who also lead the congregation in traditional Christmas carols. Another annual tradition is the Queen's Message to the Commonwealth. This brief five-minute message has been a long tradition of BBC's coverage. Previous years' editions have aired at 1505 UTC. The Queen's Message can be heard at various times around the world via the BBC, Canada's CBC, ABC and Radio New Zealand International.

China Radio International
Programming usually focuses on Christmas celebrations in Beijing and other cities. CRI programs that focus on Chinese celebrations. Last year's feature A Chinese Style Christmas was a favorite to listener's.

Radio New Zealand
Special programming from our Pacific friends is another favorite this time of the year. This year's programming will likely be a continuation of christian worship from Aotearoa, New Zealand, from a small Northland beach church. We hope they repeat last year's classic A Fragile Peace by Lindsay Wood- a story of the first Christmas in the WW I trenches in 1914.

Vatican Radio
Vatican Radio's English language broadcast for Africa continues on an hour earlier at 1730 UTC usually on 9660 kHz. It is repeated at 2200 UTC on 9660 kHz and 11625 kHz.The same program can be heard the following morning at 0500 UTC on 7360 kHz, and at 0630 UTC, on 9660 kHz. Vatican Radio is a great place to hear special Christmas programming for live broadcast on Christmas Eve, and carried also on WEWN.Radio Slovakia
Radio Slovakia may not broadcast on shortwave as in previous years, but you can listen to their live Internet stream at http:www.radiosi.eu. You can also click on "Shows" and get access to all the English language programs at RSI, mamy of which are available as a podcast or as a You Tube video.

Across the globe
Many local radio stations will be wall to wall with Christmas music, others will feature special programming. Scan around your local stations, as well as international and domestic broadcast around the world. Most radio stations have their own websites, which provie information about their programming, and audio links. Facebook has many station that maintain their own pages, and it is a great way to keep up to date with the stations. Often, the stations interact with listeners and post
the holiday program announcements. Twitter works in a similar way, and provides an opportunity to get a heads up for program specials and news.

Teak Publishing thanks Fred Waterer, The Shortwave Listener columnist at Spectrum Monitor e-magazine, for permission to use portions of his December column. We also thank the December issue of NASWA for additional information.
Gayle Van Horn

"Welcome to the Radio Mi Amigo
International NEWSFLASH for December.Weekday Schedule changeAs you may
be aware, our recent weekday broadcasts at 17.00 CET on 6005 kHz are being
severely compromised by The Voice Of Iran. Therefore, we decided to change our
weekday schedule from this week as follows:Monday to Friday:14.00 CET
(13.00 UTC) on 6005 kHz and repeated:19.00 CET (18.00 UTC) on 3985
kHz

FESTIVE TOP 5How would you like your Festive Top 5 played on
Radio Mi Amigo International this month?Email:paulnewman@radiomiamigointernational.comand
listen out on Sundays to Paul Newman's Radio Shack to hear it between 10.00 -
11.00, repeated 14.00 - 15.00 CET.If your Top 5 is played, you'll receive
some Radio Mi Amigo Christmas Goodies, but get in quick!

CHRISTMAS
SCHEDULEMake a date with us over Christmas. We're going to broadcast special
Festive programmes(in addition to our normal run of schedule) on Thursday
24th and Friday 25th December from 10.00 -15.00 CET on 6005 & 7310
KHz.On the same evenings between 20.00 - 01.00 CET we will be repeating
these programmes from our 1485 KHz medium wave service based in Riga, Latvia, so
yet another chance for a nice bit of Festive DX!All programs will be
simultaneously broadcast online in stereo.Please see our Festive Schedule
here:www.radiomiamigointernational.com"
(Manuel Mendez/HCDX)

:Issued: 2015 Dec 21 0423 UTC
# Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center
# Product description and SWPC web contact http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/weekly.html
#
# Weekly Highlights and Forecasts
#
Highlights of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 14 - 20 December 2015
Solar activity was at low levels. The period was dominated by low to mid-level C-class flare activity from a number of active regions, the largest of which was a C6/1f flare at 16/0903 UTC from Region
2468 (S15, L=128, class/area=Dao/120 on 10 Dec). Region 2468 was the most productive region on the visible disk throughout the summary period, however, an unnumbered region behind the northeast limb produced multiple mid-level C-class flares within quick succession and caused a slow increase in the background GOES-15 x-ray flux late in the period.
Two asymmetrical full-halo coronal mass ejections (CMEs) were observed in SOHO/LASCO C2 coronagraph imagery on 16 Dec. The first CME was observed in C2 imagery beginning at 16/0924 UTC and was associated with the C6/1F flare mentioned above. The second CME, associated with a filament eruption, was first observed in coronagraph imagery at 16/1436 UTC. Both CMEs were determined to be Earth-directed and arrived at Earth late on 19 Dec. See the geomagnetic summary below for further information on this event.
No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit.
The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit reached high levels on 14 Dec and 19 Dec with moderate levels observed throughout the remainder of the period.
Geomagnetic field activity reached active to G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storm levels late on 14 Dec and early on 15 Dec due to the influence of a corotating interaction region followed by the onset of a
negative polarity coronal hole high speed stream (CH HSS). Isolated active field conditions were observed early on 16 Dec and again late on 17 Dec due to weak substorming. The CMEs from 16 Dec presumably merged in the interplanetary medium and impacted the Earth at 19/1528 UTC. During the passage of the interplanetary shock, solar wind parameters aboard the ACE spacecraft became suddenly enhanced. Total field strength values initially increased from 5 nT to 17 nT and the Bz component went strongly southward shortly after the initial shock passage. The prolonged period of southward magnetic field (-Bz) associated with the passage of the 16 Dec CMEs caused periods of active conditions late on 19 Dec and active to G2 (Moderate) geomagnetic storm levels on 20 Dec. G2 storm conditions
were observed between 20/0300-0600 UTC and 20/1500-2359 UTC.
Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 21 December - 16 January 2016
Solar activity is expected to be low throughout the period with a chance for M-class flares (R1-R2 (Minor-Moderate) Radio Blackouts) on 21 Dec through 03 Jan to the increased flare activity from an
unnumbered region behind the east limb.
No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit.
The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at normal levels on 21-27 Dec, moderate levels on 31 Dec-02 Jan, and 14-16 Jan. High flux levels are expected on 28-30
Dec and 03-13 Jan.
Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be at active to G2 (Moderate) geomagnetic storm levels early on 21 Dec due to the waning effects of the 16 Dec coronal mass ejections. G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storms are likely on 02, 06, and 10 Jan due to the influence of recurrent coronal hole high speed streams.